Fiba Foundation – ‘Basketball for Good’ platform |12 September 2022

Al Salam Bank backs Fiba Foundation’s ‘Basketball for Good’ platform locally

The ‘Basketball for Good’ platform, an initiative of the Fédération internationale de basket-ball, has been officially launched locally with the full backing and support of local Islamic bank Al Salam-Seychelles Limited.

The platform is primarily aimed at attracting and retaining young participants, with more focus on women and girls, as well as providing safe, inclusive and accessible environments to help participants enjoy their basketball experiences.

It is an initiative of the Fédération internationale de basket-ball (Fiba) Foundation, which is the social and legacy arm of Fiba that addresses the role of sports and particularly basketball in society, preserving and promoting basketball’s values and its cultural heritage.

The foundation uses the power of basketball to initiate positive social change globally, contributing to the United Nation’s sustainable development goals.

Integrated into the Fiba basketball website, the platform will showcase the diverse ‘Basketball For Good’ projects the foundation runs globally.

The platform was officially launched locally on Friday by Theren Bullock, manager of the Fiba Foundation, in the presence of chief executive of the Al Salam Bank- Seychelles Limited Asim Kumar, Riard Balette of the Seychelles Basketball Federation (SBF), bank staff, along with a group of physical education teachers and youth leaders who will be directly involved with the platform locally.

Mr Kumar noted that the bank is pleased to be associated to the noble cause which catches children from a young age, thus channelling their energy to a more constructive side, rather than the usual video games, and other electronic devices.

He added that it is also part of the bank’s commitment towards building a stronger corporate social responsibility programme, and as a Shari’a-compliant financial institution, Al Salam Bank-Seychelles is equally committed to its role as a concerned corporate citizen actively seeking to contribute and add value to the social and economic wellbeing of various local communities in which it invests and operates.

Launching the programme, Mr Bullock said after a two-year delay due to several unforeseen circumstances, Fiba is finally happy to materialise the project locally.

He thanked the Al Salam Bank for its contribution which he said will greatly impact the youth, especially through sports.

He equally thanked the SBF for being a serious partner and reliable stakeholder to the project which will increase the interests and produce more basketball players around the islands.

As part of the launch, a two-day working session is also taking place, involving both theory and practical sessions, being facilitated by Mr Bullock, assisted by German Paulina Fritz, also from the foundation.

Areas that are being covered include introduction to 3x3 basketball, introduction to good coaching, effective communication, safeguarding and child protection, monitoring and evaluation, the hoops for health programme in action – level one and two, among others.

The Fiba Foundation was founded in 2008 by the association to address the role of sports, in particular basketball, in the fields of community building, education, health and well-being, as well as conflict resolution.

It promotes the values and cultural heritage of basketball as a vector for change and develops inclusive programmes to tackle pressing issues that affect children and youth in the concerned communities.

The programmes are initiated by the foundation and implemented in partnership with Fiba’s member federations, local non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and partners with the aim of supporting collaboration between local actors and to drive economic growth in the relevant region.

As for the Basketball For Good programme, it started in 2016 and now runs 15 projects in 64 countries, reaching 28,000 youths globally.

The foundation aims to grow the scale and impact of its Basketball For Good programme and this new digital platform will also become a central hub for the wider Basketball For Good community.

Through the platform, individuals can make donations, offer equipment or services to support the projects, or find out about volunteering opportunities.

Roland Duval